UNDER NEW REGULATIONS ­– All Class I and Class II auto dealers in Barnstable now are covered under regulations approved last week by the town licensing authority. Premier has several dealerships in town, and this Audi one on North Street is one of the newest, along with a Mazda franchise the authority also approved last week for Bassett Lane and Stevens Street.

Aimed to help police and fire access, parking and inspections

Barnstable has its first Class I and Class II auto dealer regulations as the result of the Licensing Authority’s recent approval that went into effect Dec. 30. The town has never had its own regulations, although dealerships are covered under state regulations, interim Regulatory Services Director Richard Scali said.

Three auto dealers commented at the final public hearing Monday after six months of review and revisions by Scali, the Barnstable Police Department and the authority members. The regulations have nine basic components that cover vehicle counts, signs, parking plans, inspections and other license requirements.

Authority Chairman Martin Hoxie defended the new rules against comments that they are intended to bring more revenue to the town. “This is not anti-business or anti-consumer,” he said, and noted that other towns have similar regulations.

“These rules are actually very light,” Scali said. “It may cost us to enforce them.”

Authority police liaison Lt. John Murphy, who helped draft the regulations, said they are intended to protect vehicle owners. “The police department doesn’t want to regulate how business is run. It’s a tightrope between consumers, business and the licensing authority,” he said. “We don’t think the regulations are over the top.

Police Patrolman Steve Maher, the other police liaison on the authority, said, “Part of the process is to provide a parking plan.” Inspections have shown that vehicles are sometimes parked so that emergency vehicles cannot get to the interior of the lots or parked so that police cannot see the interior where thefts may have occurred.

The new required signs will help emergency personnel find the business and posting the hours on either free-standing signs or displayed on a door or window, are important to consumers, Maher said.

Three auto dealers asked about the new rules at last week’s licensing authority meeting. Robbie Tripp of Ziggy’s asked why dealerships will now be required yearly to list the repair facilities they use or whether they do their own repairs. Tripp said he uses many facilities, depending on the type of car or repair.

Maher explained that if dealerships don’t list where they get repairs, they may be doing their own illegally. The rule requires only a list of the major repair facilities the dealership uses, he said.

Another dealer, William Baron, asked about the required lining of parking lots to designate spaces, and wondered how strict the inspectors would be on keeping in the lines. He said he had lined his lot, but some of it is not paved.

“Common sense prevails,” Murphy said. “These ordinances were drafted for the good of all.” An honest mistake would be taken into consideration, he said.

Darrell Fietz, manager of Auto Smart, asked about the restriction on the number of vehicles allowed on a lot and if he needed to store extra vehicles off site. Maher said dealers should not store more vehicles than the license allows, and they would need an amendment to the license if they wanted more.

Authority member Eugene Burman said he had received multiple calls asking for more time on enacting the regulations, but Scali said the regulations have been under review for six months.

Murphy added: “They are not etched in stone. If they become too onerous, the police department would entertain a motion to change them. This is a good faith effort.” He also said there have been no complaints since the junk dealers’ regulations were enacted earlier.

In addition to the parking plans, repair facilities and signs, the regulations require a total vehicle count that includes the numbers of displayed/unregistered vehicles, customer vehicles and employee vehicles in a dealer’s lot.

All Class II dealers who do not display vehicles on the licensed property or who only conduct business via the Internet, shall submit to the authority a quarterly report of all vehicle transactions as delineated in the Used Vehicle Inventory Book.

All licensees may use a computer-generated version of the inventory book as long as it is approved by the state Department of Registry.

Also under the regulations, a physical vehicle count of all Class I and Class I dealerships may be conducted quarterly by the police/inspectors and an inspection of the used vehicle book for each dealership may be conducted at least once a year.